In the summer just passed, Arsene Wenger was able to secure the services of a goalkeeper from their London rivals Chelsea, Petr Cech. He has already had an influence on Arsenal’s success rate – making some crucial saves of which bargain for more than just a moment of brilliance.
In an interview with Arsenal Player, Cech shared his views on how being calm and collective in dangerous situations is the key to making ‘vital’ saves.
[My favourite was] probably the first one against Benteke because Gabriel tried to intercept the ball when he ran across the goal, and until the last fraction of a second I didn’t know whether he was going to touch it or not.
I had to wait and I also knew that Benteke was already there. I thought, ‘OK I have to wait to see if he deflects it towards his own goal or whether it will go anywhere else’, and then I knew that I would have to go fast to the other side. I was lucky that I had perfect timing to get there.
The 33-year-old has more than enough experience in the game to justify what is really needed to make for a successful career. All-in-all, the veteran has made 341 Premier League appearances – there’s no wonder why the Arsenal man knows the tricks of the trade. The Arsenal man continued to speak of his situation with Gabriel, where he applied his years of ‘know-how’.
Taking information before the situation happens helps. I knew he was running there so I knew that the moment Gabriel missed the ball I had to get there as fast as possible.
It’s the awareness that I had two options; to wait and then as soon as the ball went past him, knowing that I had to get there.
I was ready for that so as soon as I saw that he would not touch the ball I had already gone.
Arsenal’s newest recruit finished by saying that experience also comes into play.
Maybe it’s a bit of experience, but I would say it’s taking the information prior to the situation. That was the key in this moment.
